With tyres still the hot topic of conversation following the raft of Pirelli failures at the British Grand Prix, the drivers went into Friday’s practice sessions threatening to boycott the race altogether if there were any more blow ups of the likes seen at Silverstone.
Thankfully, all three practice sessions passed with no major tyre incidents – so normal service was resumed as the teams went into Q1 on Saturday afternoon.
None of the cars seemed in a hurry to get out onto the track for Q1, and Di Resta was the first to set a time in his Force India. The first half of the session was pretty quiet, with the Williams and the Force Indias trading fastest times, but the big teams preferring to sit it out in the garage for a while.
With 10 mins to go, the Mercs came out of the garage for their first timed laps, but could only manage second and third behind the Toro Rosso of Ricciardo. By the time the other top teams finally came out onto track, most had opted to go straight onto the soft compound tyre, skipping the mediums altogether. Alonso quickly went fastest, but was soon knocked off the top by Raikkonen.
The session finished with Massa topping the timesheets, but sadly neither Williams had what was needed to make it through into Q2. Bottas and Maldonado were 17th and 18th, and were joined by Pic, Bianchi, Van der Garde and Chilton in the drop zone.
Vergne was the first to head out onto the track for Q2 in his Toro Rosso, and the Mercedes wasted no time in heading out to set some hot laps as well. Raikkoen set the fastest lap, but was quickly usurped by flying Hamilton.
With five minutes to go, both the Red Bulls headed out onto track on the soft tyres for one timed run each. Vettel quickly went fastest, while his teammate Webber could only manage third. The Ferrari of Massa finished the session at the top, but further back the battle to make it through into Q3 was shaping up to be an interesting one…
Mercedes had brought Rosberg back into the pits, assuming that he was safe on the time he’d already set. But as the times tumbled and the Lotus’ set some blistering laps, Rosberg dropped down into 11th place – and was powerless to do anything to get himself out of the drop zone with his car stationary in the garage. Not a good move for a car and team who were predicted to be fighting for pole position.
The other big losers of Q2 were Di Resta and Perez, who dropped out in 12th and 13th, with Gutierrez, Sutil and Vergne joining them in not making it into the final part of qualifying.
The Red Bulls must have been breathing a sigh of relief as they went into Q3, knowing that one of their main rivals for pole had already been eliminated.
Raikkonen was the first to go fastest, but was quickly knocked off the top by Vettel, and then Hamilton. Meanwhile the Ferraris came out on the medium compound tyres, as did Button, clearly thinking more about their race set-up for Sunday that battling it out for pole.
As the chequered flag fell, Hamilton was quickest – but Vettel went faster, snatching provisional pole away from him. Behind them, Webber was setting a blistering lap time, but was held up by Alonso in the final corner, leaving him languishing in third place.
At the last moment Lewis went fastest, putting him on pole for the third time this season – so Mercedes at least had something to smile about in the wake of their terrible error of judgement with Rosberg in Q2 . By Sarah Ellis
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